Schrullenhaft
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Posts posted by Schrullenhaft
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If you have any older saves than the one just before the enemy surrenders, try those. My guess is that all saves for the Objective Diane scenario may result in an eventual crash. As galling as it may seem, you may want to try SURRENDERING at some point within the Objective Diane scenario and see if it allows a play through to the next mission. Without casualties to your core force it might be possible to continue on.
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I'm not sure exactly what may be causing this. The MS Visual C++ Runtime library appears to be something used with the Steam version as the BFC version doesn't utilize/require the Visual C++ Runtimes to my knowledge.
The original CMSF series had problems with the Task Force Thunder campaign crashing around the Night Stalkers or Dagger Fight mission loading up (usually 'Night Stalkers'), which occurs much later. With CMSF2 the campaign structure was changed to my knowledge (with 'branching' of specific missions being eliminated). I'm not specifically aware of any issues with the current Task Force Thunder campaign, but there's still a possibility that there may be some.
Do you have any previous saves of the campaign that you could load (most likely not, I would assume) ? If you do, try one of those and see if it loads up. If it does, then you may need to play the campaign from this file and see if it eventually runs into the same problem with the Objective Normandy mission (Mission 9) loading up.
Do you have problems playing any QBs or scenarios with CMSF2 ? If you don't, then it would appear to be an issue with the campaign save file. If you DO have issues playing QBs or scenarios, then you may need to experiment with some game settings such as your video display settings (within your video driver's control panel) or possibly the Options within CMSF2 (such as 'shadows', etc.).
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Typically 'blurry text' in CM is due to video drivers. However, this usually manifests itself in a majority of CM's text on-screen and not in just one location. With Intel integrated video (often seen on laptops and sometimes desktops) there is no workaround since the issue is built-into the drivers. With Nvidia GeForce it is often caused by FXAA anti-aliasing, which can be turned off within the Nvidia Control Panel (either a 'global' setting for all applications, or specifically for CM if you have created a 'profile' for it, but this would apply only to that game which has a profile created for it).
If you are seeing this problem in only one spot, then you may need to DECREASE the resolution that CM is running at since the text and graphics are 'fixed' in size and will appear quite small with higher resolutions. This is especially true with 'greater than HD' resolutions (those typically above 1920 x 1080), though the size of the display may help a bit. If you want to change the resolution, then there are only a few 'discrete' resolutions listed within the 'Options' menu. Anything not listed there would have to be set within the 'display size.txt' file within your CM main folder (this would be true for each individual game). The format for resolutions there would be:
1920 1080 60
This is a format of:
horizontal resolution vertical resolution vertical refresh rate
A space between each resolution component and no additional lines (like 'Enter') after the vertical refresh rate. This needs to be saved as a simple text file, so no editing with MS Word. Vertical refresh rates are often 60Hz for most displays, but there are displays that support different (often higher) vertical refresh rates. Make sure you know what your display is capable of if you put in anything other than 60.
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I tried screen captures under Windows 10 Pro v. 21H1 using a Radeon RX 480 and the 21.6.1 AMD drivers. If your Radeon R7 is a built-in GPU on a CPU/APU such as the A10-7700K, then you will probably max out with the 21.5.2 AMD video driver.
'PrintSc' failed to capture an OpenGL screen (which is par for the course and to be expected) and the same was true of Window's 'Snip & Sketch' (desktop captures only). I also failed to get a screenshot with the Radeon software's screen capture utility (Ctrl + Shift + I). I don't know if I had it misconfigured or if the utility doesn't support OpenGL applications well. The 'XBox Gamebar' (usually installed with most Windows 10 installs) mentioned by 'chuckdyke' DID manage to work. However it doesn't automatically copy your capture to the clipboard to paste into an image editor. You first have to go back to the utility (via the 'Windows key + G'), highlight the capture that you want from the visual listing and then press the 'Copy to Clipboard' button in order to paste it into a paint program such as Corel Paint. The nice feature here is that there can be any number of screen captures that you can highlight and then 'copy to clipboard' (I assume 'one at a time'). So you can capture multiple screenshots without having to Alt-Tab out of CM each time in order to paste that capture in a program.
Programs like FRAPS should also work for screen captures (though the last update was 8 years ago). OBS Studio is another program that supposedly works well (though I haven't used it myself).
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Can your opponent open the file that they''re sending ? It will obviously prompt for your password, but see if it gets that far or not (they will need to manually move it to their 'Incoming Email' folder). If they can't open it, then it has been generated as a corrupt file (though there may be other issues with possible corruption beyond the initial load). If that is the case, then they will need to regenerate the file again (re-issuing orders or whatever is happening).
I suggest that your PBEM opponent zip/compress the file and then send it to you via DropBox. You will of course have to uncompress that file and move into the appropriate game folder. Hopefully that will work.
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I've heard of the 'spinning camera' issue a few times, but I've never known what the true cause is. Do you have more than one input device hooked up (i.e. - more than one mouse or a joystick or other input controller) ? If you do, disconnect it (shut down CM first) and then see if the problem continues. If this is a laptop and you're using a mouse, attempt to disable the trackpad in the Device Manager (this may be kind of hard determining which 'Human Interface Device' it may be, hopefully it might be listed under the 'Mice and other pointing devices' section, if it exists).
If this still doesn't work, then restart your computer and run CM and see if the issue continues. There's also a mild possibility of a stuck 'arrow key' on the keyboard, but this seems to be a rare possible cause.
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The 3.0 Upgrade came out some time around October 2014 (based on my purchases). IF you purchased the base game or a bundle that included the base game AFTER that point, then the base game would be a 3.0 version. However, I assume that IS NOT what happened here. If you're absolutely sure you cannot find a 3.0 Upgrade purchase in your purchase history (and your 4.0 Upgrade purchase is not a '3.0 + 4.0 bundle'), then you'll need to purchase the 3.0 Upgrade (CMFI 3.0 Upgrade, US$5.00). Once you've done that, I suggest using the download link from your 4.0 Upgrade of CMFI for your installer. This installer should be patched to the latest version and should not require any other files to install. If you're satisfied that your current install is up-to-date, then activate the 3.0 Upgrade with the 'Activate New Products' link (that MIGHT be on your desktop or within the game's main folder) and put in your 3.0 Upgrade license key. You should get a confirmation screen with the green boxes listing every product/license key that is currently activated for CMFI and the 3.0 Upgrade should now be among them.
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You'll want to contact the Helpdesk (click on the blue '+ new ticket' button in the upper right) to see if there is any way to get a license key for the 'Battle Pack/DLC' you purchased from Steam in order to work on the Battlefront version.
I've heard (but haven't personally checked) that the Steam version is 2.15, but it should basically be the same code base as the 2.14 patch for the Battlefront version. There's a possibility here that the game versions are incompatible and your game saves from 2.15 are not being seen by the Battlefront 2.14 version. The Helpdesk might have a more definitive word on that exact compatibility. Typically the location for the Saved Games (default install) is:
C:\Users\{your user name}\Documents\Battlefront\Combat Mission\Black Sea\Game Files\Saved Games
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The downloads are hosted on a distributed network provider, so the closest server to you may be having issues. I suggest contacting the Helpdesk (click the blue '+ new ticket' button in the upper right) and providing your location and see if there is anything they can find out from their host provider about the network. If necessary, they may be able to provide a different download source/setup.
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This is due to Apple's GateKeeper security. This article will give you the options to get around this security (you also may avoid this particular issue by using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to download installers - though you may still need to modify GateKeeper's settings):
https://gadgetstouse.com/blog/2021/04/08/fix-macos-cannot-verify-app-is-free-from-malware/
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GoG's version is 1.03 (the latest/last from Battlefront was 1.04). Other than that they are the exact same, though GoG does include a DirectX utility. I really haven't experimented around enough to discern if the utility makes any sort of difference to the game. I suspect that your 2D UI issues will NOT be resolved by the GoG version/distribution.
To get the games working properly (resolution-wise) I had to delete the Prefs file that gets installed with the games (something that normally isn't present until you go through the resolution selection process).
Do you Alt-Tab out of the game and re-maximize it to refresh the 2D screens ? That may not always work, but it is something to try. Alt-Tab'ing is also a bit necessary to get the CMx1 games running at a decent speed under Windows 10.
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It looks like you're attempting to install starting with a version 1.x installer. Those do NOT work with Windows 10 due to the copy-protection not working properly with Windows 10. Instead, download the 4.0 Upgrade installer, which should be an all-in-one installer (all modules and patches). You will need to use the 3.0 Upgrade, 4.0 Upgrade and all of the module license keys you have to activate the game typically using the 'Activate Modules' shortcut that will be either on your desktop or within the game's main executable folder.
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What are you using to 'set a high priority for the CPU' for CM ? What video driver version are you using (though I'm not aware of any particular version that may be problematic) ? What do you have running in the background (apps, utilities, etc.) ? Are you overclocking your CPU beyond what it may do in turbo/boost (usually via BIOS settings or an overclocking program) ? While overclocking will usually be beneficial, occasionally it can backfire and potentially hinder performance. Though that would seem rare, it is a possibility.
Do you have a 'profile' for your CM games setup in the Nvidia Control Panel (usually they will have to be set for each program individually) ? If so, what are the settings ? Some of these can supposedly override the game settings, if set as such. Do you have 'vertical sync' setup within either the CMCW game options or the possible Nvidia profile ? If so, then disable that and see if it helps some; though with such a low frame rate is may not be doing anything.
With very large scenarios the CPU can be a significant part of the performance limitation. Trying to minimize the number of programs and utilities that are loaded up might be one of the more helpful things to do.
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Have your friend replay/reorder their Turn 8 again. This time have them issue very few, if any, orders to their units. See if you can open this new Turn 9 (renamed to Turn 11, if necessary). There may be a specific order or possibly a calculation/result that may be resulting in the crash.
To be honest I'm not sure how many games/PBEMs can recover to a playable state once one turn has corruption/play-back problems. I've seen some where the game may continue for a bit, but then have crashes a few turns later. This may or may not happen to you if you are your PBEM partner can recover the PBEM to a playable state.
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Erwin - I don't think the issues here are what you're seeing unless you're trying to run the games on Intel GPUs (integrated into the CPU). That's assuming that the issue here is due to video drivers. I don't recall your exact situation, but I thought you had an Nvidia GPU and I wouldn't think that this situation would apply to you.
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DO NOT USE the Intel Auto-Updater. Your current drivers are the OEM ones (supposedly) and the Intel Auto-Updater is going to recognize that and tell you that there is no update available. Try the method I mentioned above and see if it works (which involves uninstalling your current driver) - please read the Intel link carefully so you know the exact steps. It's possible that that process may not work (and you have some true customizations to your video hardware/firmware), but I think that most of the time the Intel-provided drivers WILL work. Again, make sure to have a download of the Acer provided video drivers in case something doesn't work right and you need to reinstall them.
When it comes to OpenGL, it is a less common standard on the PC, especially for large game developers. Sometimes they'll have a game programmed with both DirectX and OpenGL, but that is usually a pretty rare situation now-a-days due to the amount of development and debugging time that takes. Here's a list (that I don't know how accurate it is) of OpenGL games. Some of these games may have both an OpenGL and a DirectX mode/version and if that is the case, you would likely be using the DirectX version/mode:
There is a newer BIOS version (1.49) for your laptop, but it supposedly only updates the Intel microcode (typically used for identifying and operating newer CPUs). Occasionally some of these BIOS updates have updated video BIOSes, but Acer doesn't mention that in the quick listing of the BIOS updates.
The latest video driver I see on Acer's site is 24.20.100.6286 (dated 2019/03/18). I'm not sure if that is what you're already using or not. The other Intel video driver in the download list is 23.20.16.5038 (dated 2018/06/15), but it mentions support for 'RS4' and I don't know what that is (a game or software program ?).
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When you got the error mentioning that the driver was incompatible with your hardware, did you try the instructions I linked to above for removing and installing the latest drivers:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000056629/graphics.html
These instructions will not work for all situations, but in most cases they will allow for the installation of the latest drivers. Occasionally there are actually hardware/firmware differences between some OEMs and the original generic hardware standard that Intel develops its drivers with. In those cases (and I assume that such modifications are actually pretty rare) you will have to stick with the drivers provided by your OEM (the laptop manufacturer). This is why I suggested, just in case, to have a fresh download of the latest drivers from your manufacturer.
The Intel instructions basically boil down to:
1) Remove current driver via Device Manager and select option to actually remove the driver files.
2) 'Scan' for new hardware and this should hopefully install the generic 'Microsoft Display adapter' (or some equivalent).
3) Disconnect from the internet (assuming you don't have to authenticate your login with a server). This is necessary to prevent Windows from downloading and installing a driver for the Intel video itself (which might be the driver you just uninstalled).
4) With the 'Microsoft' generic display adapter still installed, install the new Intel drivers. Hopefully this takes and you now have the latest (which laptop manufacturers will rarely have).
5) Reboot after the new drivers are installed and reconnect to the Internet.
The reason that your current drivers might be problematic with this game is that CM uses the OpenGL API for graphics. Most games on Windows typically use DirectX (a Microsoft-only technology) and that gets more development attention and support than OpenGL (which is a more open standard). Some Intel drivers may lack a lot of OpenGL support, but as you can see with some of the latest drivers we've been able to test the CM games do work (functionally, if not perfectly).
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I would suggest updating the driver and seeing if it might make a difference. Try the latest 27.20.100.9466 (5/14/2021). I suggest downloading the .exe for the simplest installation. If you get an error message (like I did) about being unable to install this newest driver, then follow these instructions for uninstalling your current drivers and installing these latest ones. I also suggest downloading the latest graphics driver from your laptop manufacturer to have on hand if something doesn't quite work right with these Intel-provided drivers.
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Well, that was painful... Attempting to upgrade the work computer from Windows 10 v. 1909 to v. 20H2 resulted in a roll back and a non-booting computer. Managed to fix it eventually (after a lot of swearing and threating of the computer). So testing was still done with Windows 10 v. 1909 rather than something newer. It turns out that the 27.20.100.8854 driver I had previously (and not specifically listed on Intel's downloads) was an HP-provided driver.
I was able to install the 27.20.100.9466 driver and CMBS worked fine with it too. I couldn't completely discern what the differences are between the UHD 620 and the UHD 630. The 630 is the GPU on the Coffee Lake CPUs while the UHD 620 is on the Kaby Lake Refresh ultra-low-power CPUs. The specs between them are very similar and to my knowledge they use the same drivers (though I don't know if Intel configures something different for each GPU).
In the Intel Graphics Command Center (which was unnecessary to run before running CMBS successfully, in my case) at the 'Home' menu you can add CMBS to the program list (browsing for it). Once setup, you can click on the 'three dots' (...) and select 'Edit Settings'. Anti-Aliasing, Anisotropic Filtering and Vertical Sync are all set to 'Application Controlled'. You can set any of these to 'Always Off' and see if that makes a difference. Beyond that the Graphics Command Center doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of configuring the Intel drivers for game options.
I tried CMBS on an older computer with an i5 4570 and the Intel HD Graphics 4600 GPU. With the latest drivers for that from Intel (15.40.48.5171, dated 2/5/2021, running on Windows 10 64-bit v. 20H2) CMBS also worked. Upgrading this PC to Windows 10 64-bit v. 21H1 (just released), the driver seems to have been updated (backdated ?) to v. 20.19.15.5171 (11/4/2020) and CMBS worked with that too.
I assume that this is a laptop that you have connected to the HP display. Have you attempted disconnecting the external display and running CMBS on the internal laptop display to see if it would behave any differently ?
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The closest GPU I have to the Intel UHD 620 is an i5 8500 with an UHD 630. Using the 27.20.100.8854 driver from 10/14/2020 I was able to run the CMBS v.1.02 Demo (with the usual issues of some text/bitmap corruption). I don't know if this is exactly applicable to what you have. To my knowledge both UHD 620 and 630 will use the same drivers. Interestingly the Intel website lists the 27.20.100.8853 driver as the closest to this version (suggesting I probably got this particular version via a Windows Update). Another possible difference is that this system is running Windows 10 64-bit v. 1909, rather than the latest release of 20H2.
I'll try the latest driver (27.20.100.9466, which will hopefully work) and see if it changes anything. I'll also see about upgrading to 20H2, which is now available for my work computer (it's taken Microsoft a long time to offer it via Windows Update).
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Crashing actually appears to be a worse issue. Previously the game was running, just without any graphics. So the intro video had the sound (built into the .wmv file), but once you see the mouse cursor and the black screen do you hear any sort of music or simply nothing ? Hearing and seeing nothing suggest some sort of problem accessing the .brz data file. If you hear music (different from the short intro video), but see nothing then that could be a video driver issue or another problem with the .brz data file.
The download is from Battlefront, did you get yours somewhere else ? I put a link to the download in my above post ('installer download from Battlefront') with the screenshots. The size information for the downloaded .zip file is by right-clicking on that file, selecting 'Properties' and it is the 'Size' parameter (and NOT the 'Size on disk' one). If your file is different, then something is wrong with it and you'll need to re-download it. If you constantly get a different file size, then you may have something wrong with your PC. It would sound like a classic virus that attaches itself to every file (increasing it size). This will often corrupt the file and with a compressed file that may mean part of the extraction may not be correct (if it extracts at all, which it apparently has in this case).
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Is the display you are attempting to run CMBS on actually capable of 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz vertical refresh ? If not, then change the settings in the 'display size.txt' file back to '0 0 0' or put in settings that actually match your display. If you really believe that the Preferences file will fix your issue, then you need to tell me what resolution you are attempting to run the game at. The default will typically be your Desktop resolution (with the game querying Windows to find out what that is). Again, this file typically doesn't exist UNTIL you run the game and successfully exit it (which is impossible to do without seeing the menus).
At this rate I suggest uninstalling CMBS (deleting files and directories manually, if the uninstaller doesn't delete them). Double-check your download file (which I assume you got from the Battlefront server) and make sure it is the same size as what I listed in the above post. Use another program to extract the files rather than what is built-into Windows. Temporarily disable any security software that you may have running and then run the installer. With your security software still disabled, try to run the game and see if the screens come up or if you still get a black screen. I suggested adding the game executable and/or directories to your exceptions list for your security software to hopefully make sure that it doesn't interfere (though this black-screen problem is unlikely to be security software interfering).
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The download file from Battlefront for the CMBS Demo v 1.02 is 1,051,868,252 bytes in size (NOT 'size on disk') and is a .zip archive. If there's a chance that the extraction didn't complete properly, you may want to use a program like 7Zip or Bandizip just to make sure. There have been problems in the past with the extraction of .zip files not completing properly (though that would seem fairly rare).
These are the directories that exist with the CMBS v. 1.02 Demo that has been installed (installer downloaded from Battlefront):
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The preferences file will not be created until you successfully exit the game in a normal manner, which won't be possible since you can't see the menu (there's no keyboard shortcut to my knowledge). You can manually create a 'display size.txt' file with the three zeros and a space between each (0 0 0) and no other characters (including a line return/enter at the end of the line) or you can specify your resolution in it in a form of:
1920 1080 60
That would be 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz (I don't know if your laptop's display is that resolution though). However since you can see the mouse, I doubt specifying a particular resolution is going to change what you're seeing. Do you see the initial splash screen of the Battlefront logo (which is the 'intro.wmv' playing with audio) ?
Bug: CMBN - Bocage floats when scenario first opened
in CM2 General Tech Support
Posted
Interesting. It looks like the 3D portion of the bocage on the bottom is not part of the LOD model or there is a version without it. In the third picture you can see the middle set of bocage having a rise from the ground to meet the foliage texture, whereas the two on the sides completely lack that 3D portion. In the 4th picture all of the bocage sets have their bottom 3D portion.
It looks like it is just a matter of choice for the game engine to use a simpler LOD model at that distance for some of the sets to lower its graphic rendering/memory load. Somewhat like trees and other items on the map that disappear depending on your zoom and the camera distance.